I tried growing gourds last summer in 5 gallon buckets with drainage holes in the bottom with no success.You might try it but as Gourd Guy said pile mulch around the bottom of the buckets as the sun gets hotter.That may have been part of my problem as I was growing them on my uncovered deck that gets all the afternoon sun,and I live in W TX.I know I won't try it again though. Good luck........Lillie

It's the weekend, so I can get back on the web. Thanks for everyone's answers, so far! I'm going to print them out and put them in my garden notebook, as soon as I start one Our house is older, so I've inherited whatever anyone else planted. There are just kind of plain landscaping evergreens in the front yard, and a straight walkway. Since major projects are OUT this summer, I've decided to soften the lines of that with some astilbe. I love flowing, feathery plants. Plants I have: Lily of the Valley (like everyone else on here, I guess. As we just moved, I'm going to have to try to trade what I have; someone maybe wants some...somewhere in Upstate NY!!), lots of forget-me-nots right now, and although they're spreading, I love their misty blue-and-white look. Lots of lambs ear, going to dig some of that, too. I have the unnamed roses that someone mentioned, too! I'm going to dig them; I think they're tea roses, and I really don't want to do any spraying, and I hate seeing plants get totally eaten up. Maybe someone will want some of these, too. I have three gigantic and healthy bleeding hearts (two pink, 1 white) that will do just fine where they are. Other than that, there are many things that I can't identify just by their leaves, so I'll have to wait and see. There's some wispy, deep purple spider shaped perennial that just bloomed. I like them, but don't know what they are. Anyone have recommendations for good plant identifying books or other sources? I found Pippi's Perennials at the Regional Market; she's very easy to talk to, and gives lots of information, so every payday, I plan to go and find some more stuff, in addition to my wintersown seedlings that are coming along. Carolyn in Jordan, who has done enough housework, and REALLY wants to get outside!

Amb, Why on earth do builders build TEMPORARY stairs? That sounds wasteful. I'm sure I'm missing something big. If your perm. stairs aren't "in" yet, couldn't they cut down the size? Give an extra foot to the nearby room, add a closet . . . or something? Yeah, size of the pantry, laundry room, bathrooms . . . those are things upon which I'm not willing to negotiate. This is to be our retirement home, and I want adequate size. I'm tired of scootching up sideways to reach in the dryer. Yes, Joyce, I understand your point about coming back later to do things . . . at three times the price. Budget isn't a big sticking point for us, though I do insist upon good value! So I want to do it right the first time! I can relate to the closet full of old coats! We have a TINY coat closet . . . located so conveniently past the great room, down the hall next to the master bedroom, a good 30' or so from the entrance! What a waste. For everyday use, we have a nice hall tree near the back door . . . and at the end of the winter I clean the coats and put them away into the PACKED little closet. In truth, I could throw out 2/3 of what's in there (nothing but old coats) and no one would ever notice. I agree on the back-and-forth about the staircase: On the one hand, it's a necessity. I mean, you DO want to reach the second floor, don't you? On the other hand, it is a very expensive item and eats up more floor space than you might realize. Maybe that's why I want so badly to have it "open" to the great room . . . using it as a lovely spot to decorate for Christmas means it kind of pulls double duty, earns its keep . . . for a month out of the year anyway. Yes, I'll post my plan within a couple days. At this moment I don't have a "pretty copy" to scan and post . . . and I'm not willing to show off my scribbles! I've been kicking around the idea of opening up the staircase -- not to the great room as I wanted -- but to the small office. This would mean removing the office doors and making it open to the entryway . . . but we could insert a pocket door at the far end of the stairs so that the whole office /entryway area could be shut off for quiet. The issue here is that my husband likes to go into the office and blast his music -- and although I don't mind, he THINKS I mind, and he wants the ability to close himself off in a room. This would mean re-thinking the office . . . but it may be worthwhile. It wouldn't give me the staircase in the great room . . . but it would give me the same "Christmas look" at the front of the house, which I think might be a good alternative.

Yes, I've been sending pictures to the saleswoman. She knows exactly what is going on. My contractor has been back twice, and they sent someone from Decora as well. They both took the rails out, checked everything, swapped out the glides for new ones, reinstalled everything, etc. I just think that it is a defect, not in the drawer itself, but in the design perhaps. Or maybe the rails just aren't designed to withstand that size drawer? Either way, I don't think it is acceptable. They just keep on saying I can use it as is, and there is a lifetime warranty, so the saleswoman's opinion seems to be, "who cares if it breaks?". But it is just frustrating to me...I don't feel comfortable piling my pots/pans in there. I feel like the whole thing is just going to crack at any moment! Oh, and the drawer is standard size front/back, and is 33" wide. There are 2 glides, one on each side. Thanks for your input.